Secrets of the Woods
by SQUIRREL14
Summary: What happens when Mable finds a girl in the woods and becomes friends with her? What happens when Dipper doesn't trust her? What secrets does this girl hide? not good at summaries I know. Gravity Falls belongs to Alex Hersh.
1. Girl and Wolf

Mabel walked through the woods, the wind tugging at her hair and her footsteps muffled by the sound of birds. There hadn't been anything particularly interesting happening at the shack, and Dipper had been stuck working the cash register in the gift shop, so she had figured that a walk would be fun.  
An angry cark drew her attention to a vulture glaring at her through the trees, its beady black eyes focused right on her. Suddenly the bird stiffened, then fell to the ground, a green and brown arrow lodged in its spine.  
A small wolf pup ran out of the underbrush and skidded to a stop in front of her. He flattened his ears and snarled as if daring her to touch the kill.  
Mabel blinked at the wolf in surprise. She was fairly sure that wolves did not know how to use weapons . . .  
"Don't mind him," A girl's voice said from behind her.  
Mabel jumped and turned to see a girl with long braided brown hair inlaid with streaks of silver. Her gray eyes shone with joy. She had a green bow around her shoulders and a quiver stocked with arrows just like the one in the vulture. "He guards the food while I come get it." She said, eyeing the bird hungrily.  
"Oh," Mabel said, "why don't you go to the store and by some meat that is ready to be cooked?"  
The girl didn't reply but seemed to think it over. She then shrugged and honestly replied. "I prefer to do it the way I know how. I also don't like people much. I only go into town to sell pelts and stuff."  
Mabel's optimism; which had disappeared; returned. "Want to come to the Mystery Shack with me? We can hang out and eat food other than this bird!  
"You want to hang out with me?" The girl asked, cocking her head.  
"Sure! And the wolf too!" Mabel said excitedly. "What's your name? Does he have a name?"  
"My name is Hunter and his name is Claw," The girl answered, pulling the arrow out of the bird, wiping the blood off on the tip, and then returning it to its quiver. "I guess I can hang out."  
"Great!" Mabel chirped, dashing off through the woods with the girl and her wolf at her heels.


	2. The Shack

**Authors note: my friend Didsomeonesaydipperpine edits my chapters for this story. If you like this story read hers. Enjoy! **

The two girls burst out of the bushes, followed by the small white and gray wolf pup.  
"Here it is!" Mabel announced, "The Mystery Shack!"  
There was a look of disbelief in the girl's gray eyes, but she didn't say anything for a few moments before saying, "Oh . . . people come here and live here?"  
Mabel shrugged and walked through the door. Hunter followed warily. She managed not to make a sound, even when walking normally. They entered the shack, only to find a random tourist obsessing over the fur trout on the wall.  
"Hey Dip-stick!" Mabel yelled at the boy at the register. The kid nearly jumped out of his seat.  
"Mabel!" the boy cried, annoyance picking at the edges of his voice. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that?"  
Mabel shrugged and laughed "Until you stop making it fun."  
Only then did Dipper seem to notice Hunter. "Uh, Mabel? Who is that?" He asked, looking nervously at the wolf.  
"That," Mabel replied. "is my friend Hunter. I met her in the woods earlier and now we are going to hang out."  
Dipper stared at her suspiciously but said nothing as Mabel and Hunter walked out of the gift shop and into the living room. Claw bared his fangs at Dipper, causing him to wince under his gaze before the pup turned up his nose and trotted after his master.  
Upstairs Mabel and Hunter got to know each other. They asked questions like, "What's your favorite color?" or, "What's your favorite animal?" and stuff. After a while they went back downstairs to watch TV. Hunter seemed fascinated by the TV, but didn't seem to enjoy it. They went to the kitchen to grab some food to eat. Mabel picked some old Summerween candy and Hunter grabbed some blueberries. They went outside and said goodbye to each other. After Hunter disappeared into the woods with Claw, Dipper came out of the shack.  
"I don't trust her, Mabel. She just acts so strange and that wolf pup looked like it wanted to rip my throat out."  
"You're just paranoid and jealous that I made a new friend." Mabel said, waving his comment away. "Hunter is cool. You should have seen her shoot that vulture out of the tree."  
"Wait, shoot?"  
Mabel ignored her brother and skipped back into the shack.  
They walked back into the shack Dipper deep in thought.


	3. Old and New

Hunter

Hunter and Claw stopped at the tree in which they had hidden the vulture. Hunter easily hauled herself up the trunk and retrieved the bird, glad that no cougars had stolen it. Claw paced at the base of the trunk, stepping delicately over the gnarled roots. Hunter could tell that something was bothering him. She climbed down and crouched next the pup.  
"What's wrong?"  
Claw angled his ears towards a bush just as a twig snapped behind it. Hunter raised her bow, arrow in place.  
A boy with sandy blonde hair stepped out of the brush, holding up his hands as if worried she might shoot him, but a smirk on his face. "You're hard to find."  
"What do you want Mac?" Hunter asked, irritation sketching the edge of her voice. "How did you find me?"  
"Always with the suspicion Hunter. I don't want anything . . . least not yet." Mac said in a calm tone. "And finding you CAN be easy when you know the right people."  
Claw flattened his ears and snarled at Mac, showing off his pearly white canines.  
"I'll see you soon Hunter, when that rat isn't around to protect you," Mac said, glaring at the wolf. He turned back into the underbrush, but not before swinging a kick insanely close to Claw's head.  
Hunter watched him leave in silence, then slung her bow over her shoulder. She started the long trek home, Claw at her side. Even though she didn't speak, her mind raced.  
How did he find me? What does he really want?  
The Next Day  
Mabel skipped through the leaves as she traveled to the place she had agreed to met her new friend. Hunter had chosen this place because apparently her house was too far away from the shack, and she didn't want Mabel to walk that far. Hunter jumped out of a low-hanging pine tree and Claw crawled out from underneath. "Hi!"  
"Hey!"  
"What are we going to do today?"  
"I was thinking I could see where you live!" Mabel chirped.  
"I, uh, don't think we could do that. They're, um, at work and don't like me bringing people to the house when they are gone. Maybe some other time," Hunter replied nervously.  
"Oh ok," Mabel said, a disappointed look flashing across her face.  
After a while of taking, the girls finally decided that they would go into town and eat at Greasy's Diner. Mabel got a stack of pancakes with butter and syrup, and Hunter got a waffle with chocolate chips in it. They talked about what they were thinking about doing. In the end the plan was that Hunter was going to show Mabel some traps for hunting. Also a way to get an annoying brother hanging upside-down.  
Hunter showed Mabel two of her traps, a snare and a loop as she called them. The snare was for small prey and the loop was for large. They made a loop and hung it out of a tree near the shack, and Mabel convinced Dipper to come outside. She made him walk over to the trap, and as soon as he stepped in it, the loop tightened around his ankle and yanked him into the tree.  
"Get me down!" He yelped as Hunter and Mabel burst into laughter. Dipper glared at them, his face turning a funny shade of red.  
Mabel nearly fell over laughing as Hunter said, "That Mabel, is how the loop works."  
After some more amusement, Hunter cut Dipper down with her hunting knife. He fell on to the forest floor, cussing under his breath about not understanding girls.  
Claw suddenly grew tense and looked at Hunter. She nodded to the small pup and turned to Mabel. "We must get home. Want to meet at the tree like yesterday?"  
Mabel nodded and Hunter disappeared into the woods. The brunette turned and went to back inside the Mystery Shack. Dipper waited for his sister to disappear before following Hunter into the forest.


End file.
